This invention relates to saddle girths for horses, and particularly to a novel stabilizer saddle girth.
Saddle girths for horses, particularly those used with the style of saddle commonly known as an "English" saddle, typically employ a girth, usually of leather, extending around and beneath the chest of the horse, just behind the front legs. Such a girth usually has two or three buckles at each end for attachment to two or three billets on the two sides of the saddle.
In rapid action events such as jumping, dressage or during polo games, girth and saddle arrangements typically allow considerable movement of the saddle laterally and longitudinally on the horse. For example, in a polo game, the rider will put more weight on the stirrup on the side of the horse where the ball is to be hit, tending to cause the saddle to rotate several degrees to that side. A significant amount of such movement can be not only disconcerting to the rider, but can also cause chafing of the horse's withers and/or back, as well as causing discomfort to the horse's rib cage, shoulder blades and/or skin due to the girth moving repeatedly from side-to-side and/or front-to-back beneath the horse with movement of the saddle.